The Marauders
by Elliesmile
Summary: "So…what's the deal with this ceiling, hey?" As first introductions go it could have been worse. That's not to say that 'The Marauders' had a perfect friendship but a good beginning makes for a good ending. And hopefully a good middle...
1. Good Begginings

"Gryffindor!"

The whole hall fell silent and the excited chatter stopped abruptly, stunned at what they thought was an inevitable outcome. Everyone knew who he was. Everyone knew where he'd end up. Well, everyone _thought_ they knew. Until now

Sirius Black smirked to himself and strutted down from the stage, the sorting hat having been lifted from his head. Silence remained as the next student was ushered onto the platform to be sorted

The Black family heir ruffled his messy locks and the smirk grey wider, grey eyes sparkling as he sat himself down next to Peter Pettigrew with James Potter and Remus Lupin opposite him. He held his hand out

"Sirius Black" he smiled, introducing himself and all three boys shook his hand nervously, expecting him to yell 'syke!' at any moment and go strolling over to the Slytherin table. There was a good few minutes of silence and staring before another student was hastily called onto the stage.

"So…what's the deal with this ceiling, hey!?" Sirius gave a forced laugh and the other three boys gave a polite breathy laugh too

There was another awkward pause and Sirius gave a sigh and drummed his fingers on the table "Ermmm… how about that hat. Pretty craaaaazy stuff!" his hands fluttered by his side as he drawled out 'crazy' and Peter wrinkled his nose in a wince, ready to burst into tears. James and Remus weren't far off either. This boy had more power in one lock of messy hair then the other three had put together and the wizarding world had every right to be afraid of a member of the most noble and ancient house of Black. Even if said member was a first year at Hogwarts.

They all remained quiet whilst life continued around them and cheers erupted frequently as more students were assigned to houses. Peter began to visibly shake with fear at the boy next to him.

Then, Sirius' stomach growled "I'd murder for a decent steak right now!" he grinned sheepishly

"Please don't kill me!" Peter Pettigrew threw his head down on the table and sobbed loudly, his shoulder shaking and knocking the table. Sirius looked alarmed

"Shit…just…ermmm" he looked the crying boy up and down nervously "Don't cry…please?"

Remus Lupin rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper "Don't worry about it. He cried on the train on the way here, in the boats, the walk up the stairs into the hall and when the hat was placed on his head. It appears to be a habit"

Sirius nodded and scratched the back of his head like a flea ridden mongrel, despite his famous pedigree status. "Oh… you'd have thought I'd have noticed if somebody was crying. I guess I wasn't paying attention"

James Potter glanced up in disbelief "Honestly? Your first day at Hogwarts and you weren't paying attention to any detail around you?"

Lupin raised his eyebrows and glanced at Sirius black "I'd love to know what you were thinking about that diverted your attention away from what might quite possibly be the most important day of your life"

And then Sirius Black, the youngest and only current heir to the Black family, renowned for their pure-blood mania and hatred of anything non-magical, shot back with "Naked muggle chicks"


	2. Rooms

_**Authors note: I'm glad that some people are enjoying the story. Please feel free to review on what you do and don't like about it. If I made any mistakes please let me know as I may have got dates and times mixed up. I'm not as clued up as some of you :D**_

_**Happy new year x**_

Sirius Black continued on his way down the corridor. The other three boys nervously keeping step just behind him as he strolled up the forever changing stairs, caught up in the hustle and bustle of the first years returning to their dorms. A crowd of people stopped and gasped irritably as the steps ground away from their first connection and began to turn clockwise to another platform.

The Black family heir, however, simply shoved through the disgruntled students and leapt onto the changing steps, throwing himself at the desired platform and landing elegantly with his right toe pointed perfectly. Then he burped loudly.

Remus Lupin wrinkled up his nose in disgust "Ah, poetic justice. For a moment there he seemed like a somewhat sophisticated young man…"

James Potter gave his new friend a light tap on the shoulder "Come off it, Lupin. I thought it was pretty classy!"

"You would" the boy gave a huff and followed the rest of the kids to the other staircase whilst Black simply strolled towards the fat lady's portrait, uttered the password and slipped inside.

When the three boys finally made their way to their assigned dorm they were greeted by Sirius, who had already claimed his bed, leaving only two more left and in the 5 minutes extra he'd had to explore, had made use of the time by throwing what seemed like half of possessions onto the floor, making the door exceedingly tricky to open.

Remus wrinkled his nose in distaste and attempted to shift the carpet of clothing themed debris from his path by sweeping his foot from left to right. Solid wood flooring became visible underneath. The bed he chose was left of Sirius but furthest away from the window at the far end of the room. He seemed to wince at the moonlight trickling in. Tomorrow it would finish its cycle and be full again.

James Potter grinned and flung himself on the bed to the right of Sirius' own and the Black heir winked at him mischievously.

However, Peter gave a disgruntled mumble when he found there were no beds left in that dorm. Sirius sucked in a breath pitifully and shrugged

"You'll have to bunk down with the others, Petey!" there was a slight mocking tone to his voice but only Remus Lupin seemed to pick up on it. He frowned at Sirius' disregard for others welfare but said nothing

Peter gave a shy grin "Don't worry I'll just sleep on the floor"

Remus sighed "Don't sweat it, Pete" he picked up his bag and stood up "I'll go into another room. The others will just distract me from important stuff"

Sirius looked like thunder in human form "I said Peter would have to bunk down with the others. I didn't say you should leave _Lupin_. You!" He gestured to Remus and got up, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and pushing him back to sit on the bed "Stay! James is staying too. But Peter is leaving. He was last."

Peter's bottom lip began to tremble "But…but I want to stay here!"

Sirius shrugged and began to lead the boy out by his arm. He opened the door and gave the small mousy figure a shove for good measure "You snooze, you lose!"

He then flicked the catch down on the door and spun around with his back to the bed, flopping onto it unceremoniously.

James chuckled but Remus just huffed in annoyance "I would have gladly left you know. There was no need to humiliate him like that"

Sirius sat up and his eyes were suddenly wide and innocent. This particular 'puppy dog look' must have taken years to perfect. He sat on the other side of the bed from Remus and lay backward, blinking up sadly at the amber eyed boy

"But I wanted you to stay, Remmy!" His voice reminded Remus of something akin to honey drizzling out of a pot.

Then his head snapped back onto his shoulders "Did you just call me _Remmy_"


	3. Difference

**I'd like to thank people for their lovely responses. Especially 'Bluebird Blinks' for their lovely review as well as 'Katy96' and 'Yuriko-Rurinia' for their follows. Hope you enjoyed your new-year celebrations :D x**

The next day went by rather dully. Sirius sat and sighed all the way though his classes. Remus paid a paralysing amount of attention to whatever his numerous teachers were telling him. James just chucked screwed up paper at fellow class-mates and Peter doodled through classes and, naturally, cried when he was caught.

The only drama of their first official day occurred in the evening. Lupin didn't get ready for bed at the same time as the others. Instead he lay out his clothes for tomorrow on his bed and simply sat and read, waiting for his two 'friends' to fall asleep. Thankfully they didn't ask any questions and just assumed he was studying.

"Turn out your light when you're done would you, Remmy?" Sirius' voice flew to his ears weakly, the boy was already half asleep.

Lupin nodded as he heard the black heirs' breathing begin to level out as he drifted into unconsciousness.

As soon as he was sure that James and Sirius were asleep he tiptoed out of the room, the key that Dumbledore had supplied to him tucked safely into his robe's pocket. He'd unlock the kitchen door and spend the night outside. The groundskeeper, Hagrid had been made aware of his condition and so it wouldn't come to a surprise for him to find that all of his trees had been clawed and scratched at. And there would be dead animals, mauled at the edge of the woods, visible in the morning. Lupins stomach churned at the thought of having to taste raw meat first thing in the morning. He locked the door to the kitchen behind him and tiptoed down the stone steps and into the dark.

The next morning there was great commotion in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Somebody had claimed that they had seen a boy, run into the woods and a wolf appear seconds later after a great deal of pained yelling. But no student was unaccounted for and the 'student being mauled to death' rumour was quickly dulled out. But there was still talk about it for several weeks afterwards.

It was 4am before Remus made it back to his dorm. On entering the room he saw Sirius sitting upright.

"Where the hell have you been?" He was obviously angry at the taller boy but Remus let the uncomfortable knot in his own stomach fade with the boy's obvious concern

"Bathroom break" he smiled calmly

Sirius scoffed "What? Since 2:30? I woke up at that time realising you weren't here" there was a slight pause "I was worried. Where did you go?"

Remus Lupin thought of the best lie he could. "I'm a chronic sleepwalker" he muttered an it seemed to please Sirius enough that the dark haired boy turned over and went back to sleep

Only hours later Remus turned over to switch off the alarm, having been lying awake since he'd been back. He was exhausted, his body needed sleep and his eyes could barely open properly

All the same he was dressed and eating breakfast in the hall later along with Sirius, James and Peter.

As they walked through the great hall there was a commotion going on down every table, whispers of wolves and whereabouts fluttered to their ears as Remus tried to copy Sirius' confident strut.

They sat down and tucked into some slightly overdone toast with plenty of butter and marmalade for Lupin.

The full moon always gave him a huge appetite the following morning and he was always more boisterous and rowdy as well. Sirius nodded in appreciation as Remus made his way through 5 pieces of toast and a bowl of cereal.

"Jeez, Remus" he laughed "Leave some for us"

"Get lost" the werewolf mumbled through half-chewed toast, taking care to deliberately spit crumbs at Sirius

Despite his 'not bothered' attitude, Sirius Black was unbelievably and undeniably vain. His hair, despite forming almost corkscrew waves around his head, was always immaculately messy. A phrase which here means deliberately-ruffled-to-make-it-appear-as-if-he-hadn't-brushed-it-despite-the-fact-that-he'd-made-his-way-through-half-a-bottle-of-texturising-and-mattifying-lotion-to-get-it-that-way. Or something of that ilk. Hell, even some _girls_ were jealous of his hair. Not that you'd call it girly at all. In fact, he frequently ran his hands through his hair and scuffed it up. Seventh year girls cooed over him, stating that he looked like he'd just woken up. His rounded, childish face made his innocence unchallengeable. Of course, most first years knew better by now.

That's not to say the other boys weren't attractive at all. James Potter had messy hair too. But that wasn't deliberate. No matter how hard he tried, every morning would present the same problem. 'How to get my hair to abide the basic rules of physics and stop it from reaching for the ceiling?' James had given up years ago with trying and just let it hang wherever it pleased. He always blinked twice in a row and young cousins had taken to teasing him, claiming he looked like a princess from muggle fairy tales.

Peter Pettigrew didn't have a lot of luck in the looks department. That wasn't to say he was hideous. He was just plain. His hair and eyes were neutral and he rarely dressed to impress. He was partially invisible. In his own right he could have been considered decent looking. But next to James and Sirius he didn't stand a chance.

Remus Lupin wasn't like any of his friends. He was tall and slightly thinner than was healthy. His coppery brown hair lacked shine this particular morning but his eyes still looked just as lively as ever, catching the light and twinkling ever so slightly. He subconsciously chewed his lip, as if expecting somebody to jump up and accuse him of something and the tension in his shoulders and back displayed a fear of something not quite visible.

What the boys did have in common was a love of difference. They recognised it in one another subconsciously and decided in their heads, without knowing it, that things would stay like this.


	4. Nightingale

_**To start with, I'd like to apologise to 'Nightengale 10'. You left a lovely review and I forgot to mention it in the 'thank you' section of my last chapter, therefore I'm naming this chapter after you. I'd also like to thank '4**__**th**__**Smalley' and 'GimliTheGoblinMutant' for the lovely follow and I love the hobbit reference in your name!**_

Classes seemed to breeze by and before they knew it the students were headed back home on the train, waving goodbye to their first year status and ready to embrace the new school year in a few weeks' time.

The four boys sat on the train, chattering excitedly and bonding over a large stash of chocolate that Remus had produced from various pockets about his person. The boys had learned not to question this activity and just assumed that he went and bought it in hogsmeade, which was a much more pleasant thought than believing he had some sort of chocolate gland through which he could secrete it.

Sirius stared at the boy in front of him. He was sure that James and Peter had noticed too. Remus was pale. Deathly pale. His skin was almost translucent and Sirius swore he could see the veins forcing blood through his system from underneath.

He was interrupted by his thoughts as a small knock came from the compartment door; Peter got up and pushed it aside, expecting it to be the trolley lady and was surprised by the small red-head that was stood in the frame

"Sorry" she murmured quietly, pushing the mousy boy aside "There's no other room anywhere else"

Both she and a small plump blonde girl marched purposefully into the compartment and sat down on the ends of the padded benches, facing one another

Sirius stood defiantly "No girls. We're talking about guy stuff"

"What could be so important about guy stuff that we can't hear too?" The red-head asked indignantly

"It's just some pranks that you won't want to hear about" James huffed crossing his arms

Meanwhile Remus sighed to himself at their ringleaders' antics and Peter seemed in shock that he was actually listening to a girl talk.

"I love pranks!" the blonde squealed and clapped her hands together. She had a rosy glow to her full cheeks and her dull blonde hair whirled awkwardly in various directions. There was a tang of Scottish on her accent but it was rarely noticeable "Do tell us!"

"No!" Sirius snapped, folding his arms across his chest and scowling "We said we don't want to tell you can get lost!"

The two girls did look offended and they stood up, ready to leave the compartment

"Ignore them!" Remus cut in, gesturing politely for the girls to sit back down "They don't know how to behave in front of girls. Would either of you two like some chocolate?"

The two 11 year olds giggled as James and Sirius fumed in their own corner. Peter still seemed in sort of a daze.

"I'm Remus" Lupin snapped off some chunks of chocolate and handed them out to the girls "Remus Lupin"

The two girls took the chocolate from him and pulled out their own stashed confectionary, offering it first to Remus and then around the rest of the carriage. Peter, of course, took some and James eventually shook off his annoyance to pull some out of the packet but Sirius held his ground, feeling personally betrayed by his friends

"I'm Lily Evans" the thinner girl replied, flicking her red hair

The slightly chubbier one waved and smiled before introducing herself "I'm Marlene McKinnon"

The small group made polite talk for the rest of the journey and eventually even Sirius came out of his gloom in the corner.

When the train finally arrived at the station all of the children hopped off. The girls, who it turned out, had arranged to spend the first week of the holidays at Marlene's, said goodbye reluctantly. Peter had disappeared before they'd even got all their bags off the train and had skittered away from the three other boys. James Potter said goodbye hurriedly and ran to meet with his parents. Sirius also said goodbye and promised he'd owl them. James and Sirius had been planning on spending time together during the holidays. However Sirius' parents had said no when he sent them a letter and although James had almost begged Remus, the nervous boy had politely declined also.

That left Remus on his own in the station; He silently picked up his bags and strolled back onto the main platforms of Kings Cross Station. He boarded the tube on Metropolitan and then hopped onto the jubilee. He got off and sprinted quickly to the waterloo station, very nearly missing the Weymouth bound train. Finally he got off and jumped onto the local bus.

"Dorchester South to Bridport" he hummed to himself happily as he got onto the bus and took his seat at the back.

When the bus got to Bridport he thanked the driver and began the long walk home.

His parents' cottage was just outside the seaside town. It was old and dilapidated and the cold seemed to seep in through everything. No matter how well Remus wrapped himself up he could never quite feel his toes when he slept at night.

Along the last country lane before the house, just as the sun had sunk beneath the hills, Remus heard a loud chirping in one of the skeleton-esque tress that framed the hedgerow. He turned and grinned to see a small bird trying to build his nest out of dry twigs.

"Ah, Luscinia megarhynchos" he smiled to himself "The common nightingale. You're setting up your nest rather early, aren't you?"

The bird said nothing but, then again, Remus would be alarmed if it had opened its beak to talk.

Instead it flew on, ignoring the strange sad boy at the end of the lane…


	5. The Window

_**Many thanks to my new followers 'yaasmi' 'ginnyandharryluvr' and 'Sparkie926' as well as delightful reviews from 'Thatsherlockedhetalian' and another lovely reviews from 'NightenGale 10'**_

_**Also, some of you may have noticed that I tend to steer clear of writing about Peter Pettigrew. This is not because I hate him, but because I imagine he used to be a genuinely nice boy. However, I have no idea how to write this without making it apparent that I would actually like him to go and die. So now you know!**_

Before he could blink, James was back on the train again, ready for second year. He'd managed to bribe some third year hufflepuffs away from the compartment he'd used last year and had claimed it for himself and his friends.

James Potter was unnaturally anxious. What if his friends had forgotten him? What if they were bored of him already?

He needn't have worried too much. Glancing out the window he saw a thin, tall pale boy meandering through the crowds with his cases in hand.

James jumped up and banged on the window excitedly "Remus!" he cried "Remus Lupin!"

The boy looked up to see who was calling his name and his eye caught sight of the boy in a Gryffindor striped scarf. A genuine smile broke out on his face and Remus dashed to meet him on the carriage.

Before they had even managed to life their bags into the holds, the boys were quickly joined by Peter, who enquired about their holidays and handed them out a stick of rock each. He'd been down Blackpool with his parents and had bought everybody something back.

"The sea was freezing!" he mumbled through a mouthful of toffee "But we went to the fair at night so that was pretty cool! My little sister threw up after going on the Ferris wheel!"

Remus grimaced but snapped off a piece of rock and popped it in his mouth. James attempted to do the same but grunted and gave up shortly afterwards, handing the rock wordlessly to Remus who snapped off a piece for him and handed it back to him.

"How'd you do that, Remmy?" Potter asked "It's like concrete"

Remus just shrugged but before he could open his mouth to say anything else the compartment door slid open to reveal two small girls.

Lilly Evans had grown taller in the holidays. Her hair was brighter, shinier and her eyes were warmer too. Marlene McKinnon hadn't changed at all. She had perhaps lost a few pounds. But not enough to make a huge difference

"Hello!" The both chimed and the boys grinned back at them happily. Peter handed them both a piece of rock each, blushing madly and the girls thanked him sweetly.

Small talk broke out just as the train began to leave. The children jumped suddenly as a set of bags materialised onto the train floor in front pf them. They had gold labelling on them stating that the bags belonged to 'Sirius Orion Black'. The children looked around, confused. There was a great puff of hydraulic steam as the children felt the wheels turn. Just as it set off Marlene gave a cry and stood up, pointing to the window. "Sirius!"

The other children stood up too and gasped out of the window. Sirius Black, with his wild hair, his maddening grey eyes and his completely insane mind set was sprinting after the train. But he was running out of platform ahead of him.

"Quick, Sirius!" Lilly called out of the tiny window at the top of the glass "Hurry!"

Peter gave a groan of annoyance "He'll never make it. All the doors are shut now and they're charmed not to open until the train stops!"

James looked around manically "The window's too small to pull him through"

By this time, Sirius was running next to the train but his legs were giving out quickly as the train gained speed

Remus pulled out his wand and pointed it at the window "Aperi fenestram!"

The glass was suddenly gone and Sirius was able to grasp hold of the inside of the frame. James, Peter and Marlene grabbed hold of his arms and began to pull.

Peter and James both had their legs pressed against the wall, pulling with all their might and Marlene was attempting to keep the two boys from being pulled out of the window by Sirius. Remus and Lilly were searching through a book for more spells to help the black heir.

The boy in question gave a loud shriek as the platform disappeared from under his feet and he was left clutching hold of the window frame, his legs dangling dangerously close to the ground.

Finally Remus found what he had been looking for and cast the book down on the floor

"Congrega trahitis!" he cried and suddenly Sirius was flipped upside down, yanked through the window and smashed against the compartment door. Marlene, James and Peter gave a sigh of relief and all sank to the floor. Sirius, however, who was still upside down, had flopped onto his head. His back began to sink down the wall until his shoulders and head were holding him up. He then proceeded to fall forwards, landing on Remus who gave a loud ouch, taking Lilly down with them.

The heap of children grumbled loudly and each spoke of how they would team together to dismember Sirius Black limb from limb. Remus propped himself up on his elbows under the combined weight of himself, peters leg and the whole of Sirius Blacks upper body pressing down on him.

He pointed his wand at the window and muttered the spell he needed

"Claudere fenestram"

The glass appeared back in the window, dulling the sounds of the wind outside and leaving only the pained groans of 6 children as they made their way back to the school they had left behind little over a month ago.


	6. The notebook

_**Thanks to 'LARRISSA-HAYLIE IS MI' for the favourite and 'wingardiumleviosa9' for the follow. Another big thanks to all my faithful readers. I'm sorry my posts are irregular. I'll try and sort that out and get them posted more often.**_

_**Feel free to review. Let me know if there are any moments you'd particularly like me to write about and I'll do my best. If you want to throw me a prompt for a chapter then I'd love that too!**_

Once the bruised and battered children had picked one another off the floor and clambered onto their seats they remained in silence.

The wind could still be heard wailing as the train sped on its way and Sirius attempted to nurse his sore hands where they'd dug into the window frame during his great escape from platform 9 and ¾

Finally, Lilly stood up

"Where are you doing?" Peter asked "We're nowhere near Hogwarts yet!"

"I'm going to see Severus" Lilly smiled and Marlene grimaced

"Severus Snape?" The blonde girl asked "Really? He's so… snivelly!"

James gave a cruel laugh "Snivellus Snape!"

The whole carriage burst into fits of giggles and James looked incredibly proud of himself

Lilly's distressed voice rang above the laughter "Stop it! That's just awful!"

James frowned at her "Do you want to know what I think is awful?" he paused for effect "Hanging around with the enemy!"

Lilly looked outraged "The enemy?! What on _earth_ is that supposed to mean?"

Marlene looked at Lilly like she's lost her mind "Ermmm, _hello_? Lilly, he's in Slytherin!"

Lilly gave an exasperated sigh and left and Marlene got up to follow her best friend through the train, to try and drag her back into the world of sense and logic

Peter and Sirius pulled her back and plonked her down

"Ignore her, Marly!" Peter huffed

"Yeah!" Sirius chimed, snatching a few chunks of chocolate off the bar Remus was eating and chucking half of them at Marlene before shoving the rest in his own mouth "You don't need her! You can just hang out with us!"

Marlene blushed furiously "I've never hung out with _just boys_ before. What do you talk about when Lils and I aren't here?"

"Urm, DUH!" James grunted as though Marlene had just asked him how to breathe "Pranks!"

Marlene giggled and clapped her hands together "Oh do tell me! I promise I'll be good and quiet and I won't interrupt or anything"

The boys agreed and began discussing their newest set of plans for the school year. James quickly decided that their first test subject/victim would be Severus Snape. Marlene giggled cruelly at this and the boys hushed her for being a nuisance

They quickly drew up a list of things that they'd need for the pranks and a step by step guide to refer to later. It looked like this:

**Set up bucket of flesh eating slug mucus on the door of the 3****rd**** floor cleaning cupboard**

**Ensure the bucket contents will tip on whomever disturbs the balance of the door**

**Lure 'Snivelly' into the cupboard by stealing his wand and throwing it inside**

**Watch and laugh as he's covered by mucus. Then run away and look innocent**

The boys laughed loudly at this plan and joked about the Polaroid pictures they could use as blackmail. They didn't realise that Marlene had taken the notebook and added another stage to the list between stages three and four

_**3 ½ ) Cast the 'Plumata' and 'Solidatur' charms to douse him with feathers and then solidify the slug mucus**_

Sirius snatched the notebook from her and handed it to James for him to read as well. It was then passed to Remus who passed it to Peter. Silence fell across the small cabin and there was no movement until Sirius Black leant forwards, his elbows resting on his knees

"I like it!"


End file.
